Pastor Jim Thomas
1 & 2 Kings: The King of Redemption History
1 Kings 8:54-9:28
- v. 1-9: God’s blueprint for a healthy spiritual life
- v. 10-14: Ongoing diplomatic relations
- v. 15-24: Military preparedness
- v. 25: Religious practices
- v. 26-28: Expansion of international commerce
- A heart of devotion:
- Is my love for God faithful, steadfast and true?
- Is Christ preeminent in my heart and mind?
- Am I looking for ways of delighting my Heavenly Father and honoring Christ as my King?
- Do I humbly submit myself to the work of the Holy Spirit?
- A life of obedience
- Does my life display the kind of whole-hearted obedience that testifies to the veracity of what I claim to believe about God?
- Is there internal and external consistency and coherence in my faith?
- Am I walking in God’s wisdom, God’s will and God’s ways?
- Does my walk match my talk?
- Always aiming for the glory of His Name
- Do I delight in speaking the name of Jesus?
- Am I moved by the splendor and beauty of the LORD?
- Do I glory in God’s good name?
- How am I representing the Name?
- How are we as a local church doing with our calling to bring glory to His name?
Discussion Questions
- How does Solomon’s dedication prayer for the people (verses 54-61) challenge your thinking towards God’s faithfulness in your own life?
- Verses 4-6 contain an ”if/then/but” statement from God. How do you balance such a statement with the knowledge that through grace, we do not earn our salvation?
- Theological orthodoxy is not the same as intimacy with God. How are you developing intimacy towards Him?
- Have you ever asked someone very close to you; “Does my daily Christian walk match my talk”?
- “Authenticity is not the new Godliness” …what do you think about this statement?
“The living God is infinitely perfect and quintessentially, overwhelmingly beautiful in every way: His righteousness, His graciousness, His majesty, His mercy, His all. And so we do not love Him aright if our love is not a trembling, overwhelmed and fearful love.”
– Michael Reeves
“Calling is the truth that God calls us to Himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to His summons and service.”
– Os Guinness, The Call
“I suspect that we have developed, as Christians, such a fear of legalism that we’ve lost sight of the power of love that leads us to detailed faithfulness.”
– Sinclair Ferguson
“My fear is that as we rightly celebrate, and in some quarters rediscover, all that Christ has saved us from, we are giving little thought and making little effort concerning all that Christ has saved us to. Shouldn’t those most passionate about the gospel and God’s glory also be those most dedicated to the pursuit of godliness? I worry that there is an enthusiasm gap and no one seems to mind.”
– Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness
“It is a very important consideration that we are consecrated and dedicated to God. It means that we will think, speak, meditate and do all things with a view to God’s glory.”
– John Calvin
“What matters is not that I should succeed, but that God should be honored.”
– Lesslie Newbigin
“[God is] making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
– Ephesians 1:9-10
“The temple was but a symbol, and Jesus is the substance; it was but the shadow of which He is the reality… the Redeemer is greater than the temple, because He is a more abiding evidence of divine favour. God forever dwells in Christ Jesus, and this is the eternal sign of His favour to His people.”
– Charles H. Spurgeon